


SSOWeek April 2016

by Centeris2



Category: Star Stable, Star Stable Online, Starshine Legacy (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:57:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7862674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centeris2/pseuds/Centeris2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of prompts written for SSOWeek that was held in April of 2016. The prompts were: Music, Air, Mirror, Beauty, Language, Travel, Music, Animal<br/>Main pairing for most of these is my SSO character Rebecca and the NPC Raptor. The other pairing is Rebecca and Connie, which is a set I never finished</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Music

“HeyYOOOO-“ Rebecca snorted a giggle when she heard her phone go off. It was too good of an opportunity to not have Raptor’s ringtone be a song of his. When they had initially exchanged numbers she wasn’t sure what to do about it. There was the fear that somehow someone would find out that they were texting and then she’d have to deal with crazy fans coming after her, and by extension people who might find out too much about her. But after a few days she had decided to send him a picture of Midnightwarrior with a funny caption. That had broken the ice, and now she was not surprised by the occasional random text from him.

She checked her phone before the song could continue past the first two words and saw that it was a media message with an audio attachment.

“working on a new song! what u think? :)” read the text with the message. Rebecca was surprised to hear what she could have sworn was an acoustic guitar version of “Hey Yo” and waited for the words to come in to the music. To her great amusement, Raptor’s voice came in softly serenading with the words “love you” instead of “hey yo.”

“Did you seriously just change Hey Yo to Love You?” she sent back to him after she had listened to the twenty or so seconds of audio.

“its not the whole song!”

“So you didn’t just redo Hey Yo on guitar?”

“nope :P so u like it???”

“I’m interested to hear the rest when it is done. Didn’t think of you as an acoustic type tbh”

“thought itd be good for valentines or some other love album”

“Does that mean you’ll be doing some scary songs for Halloween?”

“good idea!”

“You can’t just replace Hey Yo with Say Boo or something like that.”

“ur no fun.”

“And yet you still like texting me”

“:P”

“Question. Why don’t you use the sunglasses emoji? Since you wear sunglasses?”

“BP”

“Haha. So what does your tour schedule look like?”

“wont be back in jorvik city for a while B(-“

“Lame. What’s the dash for?”

“my awesome facial hair! but seriously we should hang out or sm”

“If you aren’t at the Jorvik mall I’m not sure how I’d be able to see you? Unless you want to fly a private helicopter to where I am.”

“Where are you?”

“South Hoof Peninsula. It’s fairly flat so good for landing a helicopter, but I don’t think the wild horses would appreciate the noise.”

“r u seriously just sitting with wild horses”

“Pretty much. Midnightwarrior likes running with them, and I feel safe leaving him here while I train other horses. It’s so pretty here, reminds me of where my relatives live. It’s like I can hear music on the wind here.”

“music? is it better than mine?”

“You may as well compare classical music to rock music, totally different genres. But it is beautiful here.”

“wish u could tell me about it in person”

“Give me a reason to go to the mall and we can.”

“u only go to the mall to see me?”

“Yup! Don’t exactly have space for extra clothes after all.”

“B)-“

“I feel like the B doesn’t work for your sunglasses, since yours are more round.”

“8)-“

“Perfect.”

“u know i could arrange a meeting”

“You mean so we can hang out? Wouldn’t that interrupt your tour schedule?”

“i can figure something out”

“Ok what about your fans? I’d bet they’d go nuts finding out you took off time from your tour to hang out with a girl (gasp!). The scandal!”

That text message made Raptor stop responding as he thought. He hadn’t told his manager about Rebecca, he didn’t even know what there was to tell to be honest. She was a cool person that he liked talking to, nothing wrong with that. But he also knew the media didn’t like waiting to find out who a person was and would speculate on anything that might be newsworthy. Raptor knew of occasions where notable people were accused of having a significant other only for the media to realize that they had brought a sibling or relative to an opening, not a date. He also knew Rebecca liked her privacy and would not like becoming a target of fans or paparazzi.

“how many people are on south hoof?” Raptor finally texted back.

“Including me? Umm, seven? James from Fort Pinta is hoping to get some tourism started to make some money, but thus far nothing has really happened.”

“so itd be easy to avoid people there?”

“Definitely. Oh! I have a terrible idea!”

“?”

“I doubt your manager would go for it, but what if you performed at Fort Pinta? They have discos and music every weekend. After a performance slip down to the docks and get on a boat or the ferry and escape to South Hoof? The people here are friends, they’ll be quiet about it if we ask.”

“isnt that more scandalous?”

“Fine, add several places around Jorvik to your tour so it isn’t suspicious that you’re just doing Fort Pinta and then disappearing. I’m sure they’d appreciate you performing in Jarlahiem and maybe Silverglade.”

“ill talk to bigcake”

“So you like the idea?”

“8)-“


	2. Air

To Raptor’s surprise Mr. Bigcake had been easily persuaded to change the next tour’s line up. As it had not yet been finalized, it was no issue to add in several stops around Jorvik. In fact, Mr. Bigcake thought it was a great idea to spend so much time getting “back to Raptor’s roots” as he had called it. Raptor barely had to mention it would bring in tourists and help his home before Mr. Bigcake was agreeing with him and looking at potential places to perform. By the end of the meeting Raptor had Jorvik City, Jarlahiem, Silverglade Winery, Fort Pinta, New Hillcrest, and Firgrove. What he had initially thought would be a few days added to his tour had turned into a few weeks, with multiple performances at each place. Mr. Bigcake had immediately started emailing and calling to make arrangements and preparations, dismissing Raptor with a promise to let him know the schedule as soon as possible.

Once outside Mr. Bigcake’s office Raptor leaned against the closed door and let out a puff of air. He hoped somewhere in the two or three weeks around the south west side of Jorvik he’d be able to see Rebecca. He tried not to smile as he thought about it, fingers tracing his phone as he fought the urge to text her. No point telling her he was coming to Jorvik unless he knew for certain.

The rest of the day was spent in nervous anticipation, checking his phone at every beep in hopes that he would know for sure. An open window became his haunt as he passed the time, feeling the breeze on his face as he waited. Bit by bit he received confirmation that a location had been arranged, Mr. Bigcake working fast to meet the deadline to release the tour schedule.

It was the next day that his phone got the final notification while Raptor scrawled in a notebook, messy writing that was legible only to him. He merely gave the phone on the counter a glance, focused on getting more lines out of the song floating around his mind. His manager was still holding him back, restricting his ability to come up with his own songs independently, but that wasn’t going to stop him from writing out his ideas. He knew at some point he wouldn’t have to pass his songs to be inspected and rewritten by other artists with more experience. One day he would be able to do better than Hey Yo, and he was eagerly pushing for that day to come.

The final line of the first draft written he paused to pick up his phone and checked the newest notifications. There were several from different social media profiles but his eyes flitted toward his emails. To his surprise, there were even more stops added around Jorvik that he had not expected. Moorland had been added, as had some location called Valley of the Hidden Dinosaur, and the dates had been moved around. He would be spending three weeks in Jorvik at the start of his tour before going elsewhere.

“guess what 8P-“ Rebecca checked her phone when she finished shearing the last sheep and saw his text message.

“You signed a movie deal about your life story?” was her smart-alecky reply and it made him smile.

“lol got my tour schedule”

“Oh sweet! Were you able to get Fort Pinta or Jorvik Mall worked in?”

“cant tell u”

“What? Why not? Can you not say anything until like an official announcement or something?”

“8)-“

“Oh fine. Waiting won’t kill me.”

“u arent going to ask?”

“Well if you can’t tell me no point asking.”

“ur no fun”

“So you’ve said.”

“what r u doing?”

“About to gather the wool I sheered and take it to the tailor, I won’t be able to talk for a bit by the way.”

“u sheer sheep?” as she had warned she did not reply immediately to his text and he was left wondering how she got wrapped into sheering sheep. He resumed work on his ideas until he received a picture file from her depicting a mass of wool nearly as large as the man standing next to it. Raptor assumed it was the tailor in the picture.

“how do u even find people who need help sheering sheep?” he asked, wondering if she would reply quickly or not.

“Better than working inside all day. I get nice fresh air helping people around here!”

“im sure the stables smell nice too”

“I’ll have you know I like the smell of horse manure.”

“lol weirdo 8D-“

“So when is the announcement? For the tour schedule?”

“email said tonight. should hit jorbook and jinstagram around the same time.”

“Well I don’t have a smart phone so I can’t exactly check either of those…”

“ill let u know when i can”

“Thanks! I really hope I can see you on your tour! Or before, or after, just sometime.” Rebecca wondered if her face was as pink as it felt and she couldn’t help but smile when she saw his reply:

“me too 8)-“


	3. Mirror

Rebecca decided to treat herself and stay the night in an inn instead of out in the wilderness. For a while she merely sat on the bed, having forgotten how good a proper mattress felt, and stared at the mirror across from her. Her hair had gotten significantly lighter, going from a dirty blonde that was almost a light brown to a sun bleached gold. Where her hair had gotten lighter her skin had gotten tanner, the constant sun exposure doing its work. Giving in to temptation she leaned back, sprawling over the bed and sighing happily. She didn’t even realize she was drifting off to sleep until she heard her phone ringing.

“Hello?” she hadn’t opened her eyes to check and see who it was and assumed it was one of the druids calling her for something urgent. Or perhaps James.

“Rebecca! Oh, were you sleeping?” she blinked and sat up, confused by the voice on the line.

“Raptor?”

“Holla! Yeah it’s me, girl!” she found herself laughing at how excited he sounded on the other line.

“You’ve never called me,” he heard her laugh as she spoke, clearly surprised he had called. He grinned and hoped he didn’t look like an idiot as he sat on his bed, unknowingly mirroring her position.

“Thought you’d be aight with it,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Oh I am! I just didn’t expect it! So, uh, why are you calling? Is the schedule public?” she hoped he couldn’t hear her bouncing on the bed in anticipation.

“How does next week look for you?”

“You’re coming next week?” he openly laughed at how happy she sounded, and he could swear that he heard a squeal come from her.

“First stop will be New Hillcrest,” he was not surprised when she cut him off.

“First stop? How many stops will you have?”

“Eight in Jorvik.”

“Eight? Wow, that’s a lot, where? How long?

“If you stop interrupting I could tell you!” he teased and heard her laugh on the other end.

“Now then,” he continued when she remained quiet, “I’ll be in Jorvik for three weeks. I’ll be going to New Hillcrest, Jarlahiem, Silverglade Winery, Moorland, Fort Pinta, some Dino Valley place I’ve never heard of, Firgrove, and Jorvik City.”

“Dino? Seriously?” Rebecca looked at herself in the mirror as she thought, surprised by that one.

“You’ve heard of it?”

“Yea, I just… I don’t really know where you would perform there? And it is cold, I’m not sure why you’d want to perform there,” she explained.

“Well some AAE wants me there so I’ll be there.”

“I guess they are really trying to draw in tourists,” Rebecca mumbled and was quiet.

“So,” Raptor started again to fill the silence, “think you’ll be able to get away for a while to visit me?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that, Mister Big and Famous?” she teased.

“If you have a place to escape to, I can get away. And there aren’t as many fan meet ups this time, and the show times aren’t as late.”

“Makes sense, I doubt the Baroness would want you playing music late into the evening at her home. You’ll probably be performing pretty late in Jarlahiem, Fort Pinta, and Jorvik City,” she thought out loud before she laughed, “Maybe I’ll whisk you away to the Mirror Marshes after your New Hillcrest performance. It is quite pretty at night, especially when the moon is out.”

“Sounds like you’ll be able to secret me away to hang out then,” he tried not to sound too happy about that.

“I’ll figure something out, don’t you worry,” she said before they lapsed into silence for a few moments. Finally she asked, “how do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Have friends? It seems like it would be so exhausting trying to see someone you care about. So much cloak and dagger to hide from people. Do you have friends or just other famous people you can be seen with in public?”

“I do have friends! You’re just… a special case.”

“Why?”

“Most friends don’t care so much about the publicity, and you’re a girl. If we’re seen together and someone gets a picture they’ll assume you’re someone I’m dating or sleeping with or both. It sucks, but that’s how it is. Plus you wouldn’t believe the number of fans who take selfies with me and try to convince people we’re dating.”

“That does sound tedious…” she fell silent again and Raptor began to feel apprehensive.

“Do… are you okay with, uh, hanging out still?” he stammered, unsure if it was fair to her to want to see her knowing the hassle it could be.

“Yea… we’ll just need to be careful. We don’t want people getting the wrong idea or anything!” she forced a joke and a laugh at the end, not believing her expression as she looked in the mirror.

“No,” he found himself hurt at her implication but pushed on, “no we wouldn’t want that.”

“I, uh, I should probably get to sleep. It’s been a long day and I want to enjoy sleeping in a bed for as long as I can,” she found the conversation was turning awkward and she wanted a way out.

“Oh you’re not sleeping outside?”

“I thought I’d treat myself to an actual bed tonight,” she wore a faint smile, glad the conversation wasn’t going to end on such an uncomfortable note.

“I won’t keep you then, enjoy the bed!” he bid her good night and found his smile fading after they hung up.

He wanted to get to know her; he just found a strange need to know her, no doubt because she had been kind to him without knowing who he was, and she seemed like a nice person. There was no real reason for it but he knew he would be able to count on her if he ever needed help. But he also knew fans and paparazzi could turn ugly and he didn’t want to expose her to that. It wouldn’t be fair to her to force attention on her by merely being around her. He believed that she would be careful, but they couldn’t be sure that no one would see them or get a picture. It only takes one mistake, one picture, to potentially ruin a life.

Thoughts swirled around his head and stared at the mirror on the wall before he couldn’t take it anymore and he grabbed his notebook to write down a new idea.


	4. Beauty

Aideen, she was beautiful.

Her hair was a mess tucked under a hat, her clothes were grubby and wrinkled, and she was covered in filth. He had no doubt she hadn’t showered or washed her clothes in longer than she’d admit, not that she cared atop her horse laden with sacks as the pair worked. And he found himself staring at her the moment she had come into view.

There were already fans gathered nearby, watching as the stage received its final touches. Raptor had come out for a sound check and to get a feel of the stage but had ended up staring over the heads of the fawning crowd at her and her horse. He had forgotten how perfect the woman and horse looked together, fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, and the sight made his heart clench in awe at the beauty formed by the pair.

After an embarrassingly long time he remembered he was supposed to be focusing on the sound crew and his assistants but even as he turned his head from her he wondered if she had seen him staring like an idiot, or if she had even noticed him. He began to hope she wouldn’t be in the crowd when he performed, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to focus to get through his line up. To both his relief and dismay he didn’t see her waiting patiently on the side as he performed.

He performed the three times he was scheduled to go on that day and did the fan meet ups as he was required. The routine of it all was easy to fall into and he was sure no one noticed his glances looking for her or how he continued to reach for his phone as if he had felt it vibrate from her text. He was beginning to think she had decided against meeting up with him, at least that day, when he realized that everyone backstage had sandwiches and drinks.

“Would you like something to eat?” her voice was familiar and he had to restrain a smile as he realized she had somehow managed to help the caterer with the food. He looked at her, looking at him innocently with a plate of sandwiches, wrapped and labeled for his choosing.

“I wondered where you were,” he said as he took a sandwich and unwrapped it.

“I figured I should try to look presentable given there are people around,” she explained with a shrug and he realized she had cleaned up.

“You looked fine before, when you were hauling sacks.”

“Hah! I hadn’t bathed or changed my clothes in who knows how long, I was disgusting…” she blushed as she admitted just how filthy she was.

“I know, and you looked beautiful all the same,” she stared at him with a deep red blush and ducked away before he could say more as an assistant came up to talk about Raptor about something.

“where can we meet?” Raptor shot a text out to Rebecca as he dealt with the after show details and calls.

“Can you get away on your own?”

“ill change into different clothes, this isnt the first time ive been in public unnoticed”

“True. If you can get down the path behind the houses you’ll be at the marsh, I can meet you there.”

He had the experience to sneak out without a fan chasing him down, and he knew the darkness of night had helped in his escape. To be safe he had told his people he was going on walkabout, a thing he did often around Jorvik that they didn’t mind so long as his phone was on and he wasn’t missing for too long. Such excursions were how he had been wandering around Jarlahiem to meet Rebecca in the first place.

A horse woke him from his thoughts and he looked around for the source of the sound. He saw a form appearing from the darkness as his eyes adjusted, the flash of light hair making him smile.

“Good, you didn’t get lost!” she spoke quietly, as though someone might overhear them.

“Where to?” he wondered if she had a plan or not for hanging out. They couldn’t go anywhere public, and she had mentioned something about marshes.

“You may want to get on,” she offered her hand and he hesitated. He had never ridden a horse before, but if all he had to do was sit behind her…

She helped haul him up and realized he didn’t know how to get on a horse, so she made a note to not go above a walk tonight. More amusing to her, and distressing to him, came after he was on Midnightwarrior and realized he didn’t know what to do with his hands. He first tried to keep his hands on his legs, at least until Midnightwarrior began walking and he grabbed Rebecca’s waist in a moment of panic. Before he could pull back and apologize they lurched as Midnightwarrior crossed the first bridge. Rebecca placed one hand over his, silently conveying that she was fine with the contact. He didn’t want to admit how much of a relief that was to him, and he also hoped she didn’t hear him gulp as Midnightwarrior crossed the terrain until they were on the farthest island of the marsh.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Rebecca murmured as she looked out over the water. Raptor nodded and rested his head on her shoulder, his arms crossed around her in what he hoped was a casual embrace.

“We don’t have to stay on Midnightwarrior, you know,” she mentioned after several minutes of content silence.

“Oh! Aight…” Raptor muttered and ungracefully dismounted. She tried not to laugh and slid off her horse with practiced ease and removed Midnightwarrior’s tack.

“Shouldn’t you tie him up or something?” Raptor watched in confusion as Midnightwarrior was stripped bare, the tack and saddlebags placed on the ground.

“Nah, he won’t go far,” Rebecca watched as the horse rolled before trotting off to graze on the various marshy islands around them. She spread out a blanket by the gear and sat down, motioning for Raptor to join her.

“I do hope you don’t mind my lackluster plans for hanging out, not exactly up to your glamorous standards I’m sure,” he couldn’t tell if she was genuinely apologizing or teasing.

“I’m sure you can make up for the inexpensive venue,” he decided to tease back, earning him a stuck out tongue from her.

“I shall try to impress, oh great Rap God Raptor,” she mock bowed her head, chuckling.

“You can call me Tor.”

“Wait… seriously?” she blinked at the sudden serious comment.

“Yea, call me Tor. It is my name after all,” he grinned at her confusion.

“Oh, ok, I just, I dunno, I thought- I guess I didn’t think you’d actually want to be like, that casual with me?” she stammered and he wondered why she would think that.

“Shouldn’t friends call each other their name? Are we not friends?” he asked and she hastily shook her hands and head.

“No that’s not what I meant! Of course we’re friends! And we should call each other by our names! Or nicknames we give each other but Raptor wasn’t a nickname…” she was mumbling by the end of her words, clearly embarrassed.

“I’m glad we’re friends,” he decided to focus on that and was pleased that she looked at him with a smile.

“Me too. And I want to get to know you. I already know Raptor, I want to know Tor,” there was something in her voice, something in her words, that made him stop breathing for a moment. He wasn’t sure anyone had said that to him before, and he tried to ignore the clench in his heart as she looked at him, completely sincere and honest. She wanted to know him, and not his public image, not the wealth and fame. She wanted to know who he really was.

“Huh, uh, well,” he leaned back on the saddle and bags that were bordering the blanket they were sitting on. “As you may know, I wasn’t exactly born in the best area…”

She settled next to him, looking at him and giving him her full attention. He found himself talking longer than he had expected, the more she looked at him with interest the more he wanted her to know. There were things he told her that he had never told any interviewer, yet she never seemed bored with anything he was saying, not the random tangent about an early teacher he had had, not his favorite street games, not his family life, she listened to it all. At some point she moved closer so she was sitting next to him, leaning against the saddle and bags like him and watching him as he talked. He was so wrapped up in telling her stories and about himself he didn’t realize Midnightwarrior had returned to the island they were on and was idly grazing around the blanket. It wasn’t until Midnightwarrior’s tail swished Tor that he was broken from his talking.

“Oh, Midnight is back,” Tor commented and watched the horse silently for several long moments. He glanced back at Rebecca, surprised she had remained quiet, and realized she was dozing off.

“Sorry… I talk too much,” he immediately felt bad for keeping her up and her head shot up.

“No no I’m awake! I’m listening, keep going,” she insisted as her head fell back down and her eyes closed. He smiled and reached over to brush her hair from her face, staring at her in the starlight. She decided in her sleepy state that his movement was an invitation and she moved closer, placing her head on his shoulder much to his surprise. Giving in to temptation he placed his hand on hers, thrilled when she linked her fingers with his. He looked over at Midnightwarrior, feeling oddly safe as he realized the horse was standing guard over them. Nothing was going to happen to them and Tor let himself yawn and relax, letting Rebecca’s hand go to pull her into a close embrace. He fell asleep looking at her in the morning light, wondering what he was going to do about the mess he was getting himself into and knowing he wouldn’t have it any other way.


	5. Language

Raptor couldn’t remember a time when he had been happier. He and Rebecca and snuck away at every opportunity and he loved every moment of it. At first he had been apprehensive of all the night riding but Rebecca and Midnightwarrior knew all of Jorvik blindfolded. As the nights went on he grew more comfortable on Midnightwarrior, even holding on when jumping and galloping. What amazed him the most was the sheer amount of little places she knew even though she had only been in Jorvik for a short while. He had seen things that he could only explain as magical with her, runes and caves and tombs and rooftops and cliffs, all sacred and secret places that she took him to ensure that they would not be discovered. And when they were perfectly alone, just the two of them with Midnightwarrior and the sky, they talked. And talked. And talked until they fell asleep next to each other. They talked about themselves, about their day, about what they did, about friends and family, about the stars and the sun and the way the wind blew across Jorvik at night. He didn’t know he could talk about so many different things with one person, but every day he found himself looking forward to seeing her again.

“Raptor!” a fist slammed down on the table making Raptor jump in surprise. He looked up at his angry manager and realized he had drifted off into thought again.

“Yea?” he had no idea what Mr. Bigcake had been talking about, and there was no way to hide that fact.

“What has gotten into you?” Mr. Bigcake demanded.

“Nothing! What do you mean?” he hoped he didn’t sound evasive or defensive. Mr. Bigcake sighed and rubbed his face in his hands.

“That is exactly what I mean. Something’s different! You’re talking differently, your body language is all different, you keep disappearing at night and showing up just in time to scarf down breakfast before your first performance of the day. You’re losing your Raptorness!”

“Losing my Raptorness? I am Raptor! And I ain’t ‘bout to lose myself!” Bigcake smiled as Raptor returned to the language his manager was familiar with, and Bigcake sat back down at the table they were supposed to be having a meeting at.

“Good to hear, now then, who is she?” Mr. Bigcake asked, fixing the papers in front of him that Raptor didn’t remember being there. He couldn’t even remember what the meeting was about. Probably talking about his performance schedule for the next few days. Maybe. He hadn’t paid attention, but now he was completely focused on trying not to blush or give any indication that he knew what Mr. Bigcake was talking about.

“She? Hah! There isn’t any bae for me, you know I’d give you the DL ‘bout that-“

“I do happen to have the powers of observation, you began acting strange after the Jorvik Mall Fashion Show. So who is she? A model? A designer?” Raptor realized he couldn’t get out of this, especially since he could feel his lips twitching into a smile and his face turning pink.

“Nah, she’s not a model, or a designer,” Mr. Bigcake’s face fell at that. Clearly his manager wanted someone who was already gaining their own celebrity status.

“But she’s an awesome friend and a great human being. She’s here for the summer for the horses, she’s amazing with them! And-“ Mr. Bigcake cut him off with a swear.

“Garnok, Raptor, seriously? Some stable girl? Does she have any connections or know anyone? Let me guess, she’s a really big fan-” this time Raptor cut off Mr. Bigcake, furious.

“I can have friends who don’t have 100,000 followers on Jorbook. And the first time I met her she didn’t know who I was, not that it matters,” Mr. Bigcake balked at Raptor’s intensity and gave himself a moment to collect himself before proceeding.

“You are absolutely correct, Raptor. Very well. How shall we introduce her to your fans? We must be careful about how we approach this, some fans will love a good love story but others may cause a stir. Both are good as both get people talking about you, but positive publicity is still preferable,” Mr. Bigcake began his plotting, not taking Raptor’s shocked face into account.

“We’re not dating!”

“You know that doesn’t matter.”

“She doesn’t want people to know about her! She doesn’t want the attention!” Raptor tried again, afraid Rebecca would be angry with him if he couldn’t stop Mr. Bigcake.

“She should have thought of that before spending several nights with you. I hope you were at least sensible enough to use protection, children are difficult to plan tours around.”

“We’ve held hands,” Raptor interjected, not liking how Mr. Bigcake was handling this at all.

“Regardless, the public will find out about her sooner or later. If she is merely one of many dalliances then we just need to have a plan should the news break-“

“A ‘dalliance’?” he felt insulted, as well as angry by the implication Mr. Bigcake was making.

“An affair, hook up, fling, in short she’s a good lay-“ Mr. Bigcake stopped when Raptor slammed his fist on the table, realizing a line had been crossed.

“I’ll be straight with you,” Raptor began in a low voice, dipping into his Raptor persona’s voice inflection, “if you ever insult her again, I will gladly show you just how much I learned on the streets.” Raptor’s knuckled cracked and Mr. Bigcake could hear the skin clenching. “We’re not going to talk about this publically, and if we do decide to make any sort of announcement to the media it will be with her full consent and cooperation. Understand?” Raptor could tell that Mr. Bigcake was at a loss at what to do, torn between fear and anger. Normally he was the one calling the shots, he always overruled Raptor in the end. But now he had no idea what to do, both insulted that Raptor had threatened him and was overruling him but also terrified because he’d never seen Raptor like this. Sure Raptor had thrown tantrums in the past, usually over lyrics and songs, but Mr. Bigcake had never heard Raptor talk so seriously and calmly, his language clear of slang. He hadn’t even realized Raptor could use words that big, when Raptor was in his role he never spoke on such an elevated level.

“I asked if you understood,” Raptor repeated when Mr. Bigcake had been silent for too long.

“Yes,” Mr. Bigcake managed with a nod, and he said nothing when Raptor left the room without another word.


	6. Travel

Tor took in a deep breath, taking in the smell of Rebecca’s hair as he leaned into the blonde mass in front of him.

“Bet you’re glad I bathed today,” she teased, squeezing her legs and urging Midnightwarrior into a canter through the forest.

“It makes your hair feel nicer,” he admitted, holding on as the horse below him picked up speed.

“So, you’ve only got a few days left before you travel elsewhere for your tour. Where shall we go tonight?” Rebecca asked even though Midnightwarrior was already moving through the forest.

“Don’t care,” he muttered into her ear, just happy to be holding her.

“Well we’ve already been on top of the riding hall, been to several graves, caves, rune stones, ice towers, swamps, cliffs,” she prattled on the list of places they had gone, each night they had gone somewhere else.

“Aight I get it, we’ve been everywhere. We need somewhere else to go,” Tor laughed.

“We haven’t been to South Hoof yet, but that’s past Fort Pinta. There is the ferry driver to worry about, and there are always people around even late at night,” she thought aloud, weighing the risks.

“You’ve talked about there before,” he recalled the conversation. They had been texting when she was over there at one point.

“Yup, it’s so pretty. And Midnightwarrior likes it too, he gets to run all over the place with the other horses. Good for bonding with the horses I’m training as well,” she got Tor’s attention with that.

“You’re training other horses? I’ve only seen you with Midnight.”

“I got talked into it. You know me, I can’t say no to someone who needs my help. Now I’ve got three horses to train. Do you want to meet them? Found an adorable pony as well,” she offered and he nodded in agreement. Midnightwarrior followed her direction and headed toward Fort Pinta while Raptor’s mind drifted toward the future.

“I’m gonna miss seeing you,” he murmured, embarrassed to admit it.

“I’ll miss you too, but you’ve got places to go, people to perform for, fans to appease,” she teased back to mask her sadness. She really would miss him, and had no idea when or if she’d ever see him again.

“You could come with me, or visit,” he felt her sigh at that suggestion. He had hoped she’d be more receptive to the idea.

“I’m needed here.”

“Jorvik was fine without you, it can survive a few weeks, or even a few days, without you,” he tried to tease but felt her go stiff. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, he’d never felt her go from warm and leaning into him to cold and stiff, and certainly not in a moment’s notice.

“Hey,” he whispered, rubbing her arm, “I didn’t mean that you aren’t useful or helpful or something. You’ve helped a lot of people, Jorvik is better because of you. I just meant the world wouldn’t end if you weren’t around,” he was surprised when she let out a barking laugh, and further confused when her laugh did not relax her rigid back.

“You - … doesn’t matter. I have reasons why I can’t leave Jorvik, even for a day. For instance, I have five horses that I’m taking care of and training,” she tried to explain away his confusion, but she was still tense.

“What aren’t you telling me?” she looked back at him in what might have been a glare if she hadn’t looked so worried in the moonlight.

“Nothing.”

“You’re acting weird for hiding nothing.”

“I can’t tell you.”

“If it was nothing, there wouldn’t be anything you couldn’t tell me.”

He was startled when Midnightwarrior stopped, stamping a hoof, and looked back at him in sync with Rebecca looking back at him. His eyes darted between the clearly angry horse and the woman who was quickly turning frantic. How had her horse known? He knew they had a bond, but he didn’t understand what this was.

“Can you please drop it?” her voice was choked, fighting back a storm of different emotions. But he nodded and Midnightwarrior resumed cantering. Tor wasn’t sure what to do so he just rubbed her arms, hoping she would relax and stop being angry. But he couldn’t figure out what had just happened. As Fort Pinta came into view and Rebecca led them down the beach to avoid as many people as possible.

The silence between them stretched on as they waited on the ferry to take them across the waves, Raptor wondering what she was thinking and trying to understand. There were the stories, of course, of the magic horses held on Jorvik and their bonds with special people. If anyone was special enough to be chosen by a magic horse, it would have been Rebecca. She was like the embodiment of goodness, but that didn’t mean the stories were real. They were just stories, myths, legends about goddesses and soul bonds between humans and horses and magic trees and magic and ancient battles between good and evil. He didn’t even know if those legends had traveled beyond the island of Jorvik, did Rebecca even know about those legends before coming to Jorvik? It seemed more like local folklore to him, no reason for it to be known around the world.

The chill of the ocean disappeared as Midnightwarrior walked off the ferry and headed up the path and Rebecca broke the silence.

“We’re here.”


	7. Animal

South Hoof Peninsula was quiet, just the wind and the sea making noise at this time of night. Raptor, Rebecca, and Midnightwarrior stood on a bluff for a few minutes and Raptor felt Rebecca finally relaxing after their tense conversation. His mind was still swimming with questions, but at least she was no longer as stiff as a pole.

“Hello!” she shouted to the wind, projecting and holding the yell as long as she could as if that would make the wind carry it farther. Midnightwarrior shook his head and stamped his hoof, growing excited and almost burst when Rebecca urged him forward. Raptor yelped and Rebecca laughed as Midnightwarrior shot forward, throwing his head and neighing as he took off over the plain. Raptor held on tight but looked around and saw purple flowers and strange rocks by the light of the moon and stars.

When Midnightwarrior stopped at a rock Rebecca dismounted, Raptor following her lead, and watched her as she untacked Midnightwarrior. The dark Jorvik warmblood snorted and ran a few strides before getting on the ground to roll, squealing and kicking in happiness. Rebecca, meanwhile, got on top of the rock and called again, this time adding kissing noises to her shout.

“Wouldn’t a whistle work better?” Raptor asked as she climbed back down to stand next to him.

“It would, if I could whistle,” she laughed but did not sit down as he had expected her to.

“So now we wait?” he asked after looking around and said no more when she smiled and put a finger to her lips.

“Just listen,” she whispered to him before she closed her eyes. He stared at her for a minute more before doing as she had, closing his eyes and trying to listen. The wind blew through the grass and rocks, the waves crashed in the distance all around them, and he could feel and hear a pounding. He wondered if this was the music she had mentioned hearing here and he opened his eyes, looking for the source of the rumbling. He could hear whinnies on the wind and saw dark shapes moving toward them. If he were honest, he would admit that he was scared. There was a herd made up of very large animals charging at him, and all his friend was doing was standing right in their way, listening. Midnightwarrior reared before running toward the approaching herd, disappearing into their ranks as they got closer.

“Shouldn’t we move?” Tor whispered to her, growing nervous. He was startled when he felt her take his hand and give him a squeeze, and he was downright terrified when she pulled him away from the safety of the rock.

Moments like this are when time is supposed to stand still, perhaps a flashback or an entire life flashing before the eyes. Things are supposed to slow and come into perfect clarity for a few precious seconds that often leads to some epiphany. But instead there was just the wind and rush of horses moving past. He couldn’t even tell the horses apart, they were just a mass of animals calling and stomping and swarming around him with more power than he had ever felt.

If it hadn’t been for the calm hand holding his he was sure he would have fainted from fear. He risked a glance at her, hoping the wall of horses moving around him wouldn’t get closer if he stopped looking. She looked alive, smiling and watching the horses with such love he was almost jealous. She caught him looking and she gave his hand a squeeze and he started to understand what this meant to her. He couldn’t understand why, but there was something deeply personal about this for her, yet she had chosen to share this with him.

The galloping herd slowed and spread out and Raptor felt like he could move again, and if he had been unsure Rebecca took the first step. He followed her, led by her hand, as she walked among the horses. Some shied away from her but others reached out to touch her, including Midnightwarrior.

“This is Ghostwarrior, the Kallters wanted me to train one of their horses,” she introduced him to a horse that looked white in the moonlight. She continued to walk through and point out the horses that she was looking after, she had given them all names that ended with warrior, and then there were the horses native to the wild herd. She did not have names for them, simply using descriptions to point them out to him.

“Oh, be careful for roots, they’re nasty to trip on,” she warned him when she stumbled on a root. He looked down and stepped over one he was about to hit before he looked around for a tree to be connected. He spotted the black mass in the distance, a tall and twisted tree surrounded by rocks. Before he could comment on how it looked like it could be one of the trees in Jorvik’s legends Rebecca was distracted by a pony that she called Sunwarrior.

He laughed as he watched her run after the pony, playing with the buckskin as it darted around rocks and roots. He jogged after her, not wanting to be too far away from her with this many wild animals around, and was not surprised when Midnightwarrior ran past to join in the game. Sunwarrior squealed and jumped, bucking and squeaking as she and Midnightwarrior darted around the massive tree. There was something about the tree that made Raptor stop, memories of the stories he heard growing up creeping into his mind as he watched. It wasn’t that a person couldn’t go near one of the magic trees, but if he remembered the legends correctly the trees were alive and did not take kindly to humans cutting down forests around them. So he stood and watched from a safe distance, eyeing the tree as Rebecca made her way towards it and put her hand on it.

Maybe it was just his eyes playing tricks on him, but he was certain he heard the tree groan and move, and not in the direction the wind was blowing. He swallowed, taking a few steps forward but still apprehensive. Midnightwarrior broke off his back and forth chase with the pony and trotted over to Rebecca. Raptor smiled at the familiar sight, woman and stallion standing together in perfect harmony. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, swearing under his breath. The constant concerts and late nights must be getting to him, and all those thoughts about legends and myths were making him see things. After all, how could Rebecca and Midnightwarrior disappear and turn into one being? That wasn’t possible, it was just the lack of sleep and poor light.

And yet, as he looked at Rebecca, he had the strangest suspicion that she wasn’t human.

Which was nonsense, of course.


	8. Music (Connie)

“…a fight. Time is up for tonight!” Connie halted on the stairs of the wine cellar at a voice somewhere inside. He wondered if it was Rebecca, but he had never heard her sing before, and thus went to investigate. The voice was easy to follow and he remained silent as he leaned against the doorframe, watching as Rebecca bounced around the cellar as she sang.

“All I wanna do is hold you in my aAHH-!” Rebecca shrieked and jumped when Connie followed the song lyrics and hugged her from behind, startling her.

“I didn’t realize you sang,” Connie murmured, amused that she was blushing.

“Oh, that?” she pulled out an earbud and glanced at him, “I don’t really sing, it’s just for fun when no one is around.”

“Why? You sounded wonderful, and you were clearly having a good time.”

“Because it’s silly! I’m not really that good, never had any training or anything, and I can’t dance,” Connie laughed and poked her on the nose, surprising her.

“You’re silly, I like it,” Connie informed her, surprised when her embarrassed face turned into a scowl.

“Oh. Because what you like should be my top priority?” Connie let her go and started waving his hands.

“No no that’s not what I meant I just meant that I like it and that doesn’t mean that should matter or anything I just was trying to make you feel better because you seemed to be having a good time while singing and dancing and I like seeing you happy not that what I like matters you should do what you like and what you’re comfortable with and not care what I or anyone else think-“ she burst out laughing, not able to keep a straight face.

“You were teasing, weren’t you?” Connie sighed as Rebecca doubled over laughing.

“I’m sorry, it’s too easy!“ she tried to recompose herself, holding her sides and wiping tears from her eyes from laughing too hard.

“Anyway, you like music?” he tried to recover, hoping his blush was fading as he tried to pull himself together, along with his courage.

“Mmhmm?” she waited for him to explain why he was asking, or if he was just making small talk.

“Well, there are concerts at the mall if you want to go sometime, or we could maybe go to Fort Pinta for the disco some weekend? If you’re into that sort of music that is,” Connie hoped he wasn’t as red as he felt.

“Yea, I’d like that,” she agreed with a grin.


End file.
